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Since Hilton has many family-friendly brands and resorts, including Embassy Suites and even Homewood Suites, Hilton points are very relevant to traveling more for less. In fact, we just used six figures of Hilton points to secure award nights for a big 2019 family trip to Hawaii.

Going back to Hawaii using Hilton points!

In the points and miles world, all award currencies have different values and knowing the difference between a Hilton Aspire and Ascend card is not necessarily intuitive. So let’s dive into what 150,000 Hilton Honors points are really worth and which of these similarly named Hilton cards is the best match for family travelers.

Increased Hilton Amex Bonuses

All of the Hilton Amex welcome bonuses are increased over the standard offers, with the Hilton Honors Ascend and Aspire Cards hitting their all-time highest point offers by 25,000 Hilton Honors points each.

According to TPG’s latest valuations, the 150,000 Hiltons Honors bonus points that are available with the Hilton Aspire are worth an impressive $900. The 125,000 Hilton Honors point bonuses are worth $750 and the 75,000-point bonus is worth $450.

If you want to see that information outlined a bit differently, here’s the line-up of available bonus points, annual fees and TPG’s valuation of those points. The $450 Hilton Aspire annual fee looks scary at first, but hang with me because it’s not as bad as you might think.

If your family can spend $4,000 in the first three months (average of $1,334 per month), then the best bonus is the biggest one, making the Hilton Aspire my top pick of the four. However, if you can’t comfortably shift $4,000 in spending to the card in the first three months then I’d look to one of the cards with a lower spending requirement of $1,000 – $2,000.

Best Bonus Winner: Hilton Aspire

Hilton Elite Status

Having hotel elite status is one of the easy ways that families can make award travel even better. Each Hilton Amex comes with built-in elite status that the cardholder enjoys simply by having the card linked with their Hilton Honors account. In some cases, you can nudge that elite status to the next level with significant annual spending on the cards, but for simplicity’s sake, let’s just look at the elite status the cards come with automatically.

The Hilton elite status you receive with all of the four cards allows you to get the fifth night free on standard award stays, which is great for families who want to stay put for five nights while on vacation, whether that is in the sand,snow or somewhere between.

The Hilton Aspire provides you top-tier Hilton Diamond status that gets you valuable perks including Executive Floor Lounge Access, space-available room upgrades, breakfast, bonus points, welcome amenities and more. For us, lounge access is code for easy access to food and drinks that don’t hit our travel budget. Families, note that perks like breakfast and lounge may only apply to two guests per the terms of the Hilton Honors program. However, in practice, children may very well be permitted into the lounge with the parents at some properties. In terms of breakfast, if the parents can eat “for free” thanks to status, the bill should be reduced significantly even if the children aren’t all totally complimentary.

The Hilton Gold elite status that you get with the Hilton Business and Hilton Ascend cards doesn’t get you the guaranteed Executive Lounge access you get with Diamond status as you must be in a room upgraded to an executive floor to get access with Gold status, but it does still provide you things like breakfast, bottled water at some properties and a shot at an upgraded room.

If you max out the included $500 in cumulative travel credits each year, and my family absolutely would, then the $450 annual fee isn’t nearly as painful as it seems at first glance. In addition to the credits, the Hilton Aspire also comes with unlimited Priority Pass lounge access and a free weekend award night each year of card membership (and another one after you spend $60,000 on the card in a calendar year).

The weekend award nights are great to use somewhere like the iconic Hotel del Coronado in California that otherwise goes for as many as 95,000 Hilton points per night or several hundred dollars. Another family-friendly Hilton property where I’d love to use a weekend award night is the Grand Wailea in Maui.

Both the Hilton Honors Business Card and the Hilton Honors Ascend Card have a $95 annual fee, which is obviously much lower than $450, and could be the better choice if you wouldn’t have otherwise spent $250 at a Hilton resort and $250 on eligible airline charges in a year. However, if you plan to utilize the annual built-in credits with the Hilton Aspire Card, it actually provides more overall value for a family from all of the built-in perks.

Perks Winner: Hilton Aspire (if you use the credits)

Bottom Line

If your family prefers to avoid the higher annual fee cards, or you aren’t certain if you’ll make full use of the built-in travel credits with the Aspire, the Ascend is a great option that will offer 125,000 points after just $2,000 of spending in three months with a $95 annual fee. The Hilton Honors Business Card is very similar and for small business owners also offers a solid value with 125,000 bonus points after $3,000 in spending in the first 3 months. If you don’t ever want to deal with an annual fee, then 75,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months on the Hilton Amex is a great solution.

However, families who travel at Hiltons with some frequency and know how to maximize card perks will often do best with the Hilton Aspire Card. It has the highest number of bonus points, the best earning ratio, the highest elite status level (with guaranteed lounge access and breakfast!), up to $500 in combined travel credits, an annual award night without a spending requirement and more. If you will make full use of the credits and status, then the $450 annual fee can be worth the cost. In fact, it may actually be a better investment than a $95 card that doesn’t come with any annual credits or guaranteed annual award nights without $15,000 in annual spending.

Pool at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando. Photo courtesy Hilton

Every family is different, but from Disney World to Hawaii and lots of places in-between, there are lots of opportunities for families to make use of Hilton Honors points and credit card perks. The next step is simply picking the right Hilton credit card for your family.

For rates and fees of the HIlton Aspire Card, please click here.For rates and fees of the Hilton Ascend Card, please click here.For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors Business Card, please click here.For rates and fees of the Hilton Amex Card, please click here.

Earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points with the Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express after you use your new Card to make $4,000 in eligible purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. Plus, enjoy a free Weekend Night Reward within your first year and every year after renewal.

Earn 14X Hilton Bonus Points when you make eligible purchases on your Card at participating hotels or resorts within the Hilton Portfolio.

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

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Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Please view our advertising policy page for more information.

Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.